The official opening ceremony of the 13th European Youth Olympic Festival has been held in the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, President of the European Olympic Committee Patrick Hickey and Olympic Games Committee Vice-Chairman Alexi Akhvlediani, addressed the athletes at the ceremony.
"We turned a dream into reality. We carried out infrastructure projects; 7 out of 11 sports arenas were built for the Olympic Games. The Olympic village was built for you," Alexi Akhvlediani said.
The event brought together 4000 athletes and high ranking guests from 50 countries. They will compete in judo, tennis, gymnastics, cycling, athletics, swimming, volleyball, handball and basketball.
